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The U.S. Forest Service announced last month that it would not be hiring seasonal employees due to budget shortfalls, and Western states are already feeling the impacts. The nearly 2,400 jobs that won't be filled this year range from maintenance of campgrounds, roads, and trails to field research. Also impacted: 14 avalanche centers that provide avalanche forecasts that winter outdoor recreationsts rely on, but may have to scale back staffing due to funding shortfalls.
In a letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, both of Colorado's U.S. senators and two members of Congress expressed further concerns about the extension of the hiring freeze to include seasonal staff hired through external partnerships with state and local governments and other community partners, who often contribute money to hire seasonal employees to carry out the partnership agreements. In many cases, the funds contributed by local governments come from user fees or from voter-approved taxes for specific purposes.
"In Colorado, the Forest Service developed these fees and partnerships in close coordination with local communities, who supported their implementation with the understanding that funds would be used for specific local recreation and visitation pressures," the letter explains. Diverting these funds to other purposes, and not hiring agreed-upon seasonal employees to carry out the agreements, would be "unacceptable."
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This policy will result in a burgeoning of the trail maintenance backlog, both through lack of Forest Service staff attention to trail maintenance, but also through the loss of connection and relationships with partner organizations.”
